military-related stories
Posted Aug 7th 2009 12:29PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Industry, Programming, OpEd, Cancellations, Ratings, Reality-Free
Earlier this week, I told you about
the real reason Without A Trace was cancelled. Now, executive producer
Shawn Ryan reveals the real reason The Unit was cancelled. "Listen, if the show had been owned by Paramount and
Medium had been owned by 20th Century Fox, we'd be making the fifth season of
The Unit now." You see, TV fans, it's comes down to money. CBS owns Paramount so it would earn more in the long run if
The Unit made more episodes, went into syndication and reaped revenues for years to come. However, Fox owns
The Unit. Get it?
Continue reading The real reason The Unit was cancelled
Posted Feb 25th 2009 11:02AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
There are two significant things to take from the news that
Army Wives will return for a fourth season. One, the predominantly female viewership of Lifetime has embraced the series about the lives of Army personnel and their families on the Fort Marshall post in Charleston, South Carolina; and two, scripted dramas are on the rise all across the cable networks. It also means that this finely acted, well-written and well produced show is going to be around for the next couple of years at least.
Continue reading Lifetime drafts Army Wives for season four
Posted Nov 18th 2008 3:04PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: NCIS, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free
Something amazing has happened recently in the TV media: the critics have discovered CBS's stealth ratings champ,
NCIS, and it's now cool to come out of the closet and declare your fandom. Articles in
USA Today, the
Los Angeles Times and
The New York Times have reported the fact that not only is
NCIS consistently in the top five of the weekly Nielsen ratings, but it's also a smart, well-acted and compelling TV show.
There are reasons to admire
NCIS, and if you haven't been watching, here's five really good reasons to check out the show. I know that before I got coerced into giving
NCIS a try, I didn't think I'd like it, but boy, was I wrong.
Continue reading Five reasons why it's cool to like NCIS
Posted Feb 14th 2008 1:23PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Programming, Desperate Housewives, Cable/Satellite, Ratings, WGA Strike
Cynopsis reports that now that the writers' strike is over -- hallelujah! -- Lifetime Television will soon begin production on the second season of
Army Wives with episodes scheduled to air in early summer. This is great news for fans of the Lifetime original drama series that was a ratings juggernaut when it premiered last summer. In fact, Army Wives was the most successful series in Lifetime's 23-year history! During its 13-episode run,
Army Wives was the highest rated drama on cable among women, establishing new Lifetime marks for an original scripted series. The soapy-drama was scheduled to return in April, but then the writers struck and the show has been in hibernation -- I mean, hiatus -- ever since.
Continue reading Attention! Army Wives back in training
Posted Jun 4th 2007 6:21PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews
According to the paperwork I got back yesterday, I'm a man. Because of this, I'm pretty much conditioned not to care about anything that appears on Lifetime.
Still, I figured it wouldn't kill me to at least watch the first episode of Army Wives, a new original dramatic series that focuses on the lives of several women living on an Army base, rather than judging it without seeing it.
You know what? It's not that bad. Admittedly, the show is geared toward women and is at times a bit too "touchy feely" for my tastes, but I can tell a good series when I see one, and this one has potential, as long as people give it a chance and don't completely ignore it just because it happens to be on Lifetime.
Continue reading Why you should check out Army Wives
Posted Dec 27th 2006 4:09PM by Julia Ward
Filed under: PBS, Children
On tonight's PBS special
When Parents are Deployed, Elmo gets some sad news - his father Louie is leaving for parts unknown. While no specific branch of the military is mentioned, it's clear that Louie is being shipped off to either Iraq or another war-torn country. Elmo, the army brat, is in for some heartbreak. And, from the sound of the
New York Times' review of the special, so are we. Elmo's segments are played between interviews with actual soldiers and their often traumatized children.
Continue reading Elmo's dad is shipped overseas
Posted Dec 11th 2006 7:41AM by Jen Creer
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, ABC, Brothers and Sisters
(S01E10) As obligatory holiday episodes go, can I just say Thank God for a Jewish family? For crying out loud, it's such a relief not to have a Christmas miracle on this show. I have studied Judaism in depth and observe most Jewish holidays with friends. I have seriously considered converting. So, even though I am not Jewish, having studied and talked about it so intimately, it was a pleasure to watch this episode.
Continue reading Brothers and Sisters: Light the Lights
Posted Dec 2nd 2006 6:14PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Cable, Pickups and Renewals
The Lifetime cable television network has ordered 13 episodes of
Army Wives, a drama about spouses living on a military base in South Carolina. The ensemble cast includes Kim Delaney (
NYPD Blue) and Catherine Bell (
JAG), who have both had recent guest appearances on popular shows including
The O.C. and
Law & Order: SVU.
The series is based on the book, Under the Sabers: The Unwritten Code of Army Wives, by Tanya Biank. Like the book, the series will be about the pressures on military spouses (there's one man in the mix) and the traditions they are expected to uphold.
Army Wives is set to premiere in March 2007.
Posted Nov 20th 2006 7:28AM by Jen Creer
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, ABC, OpEd, Brothers and Sisters
(
S01E09) If you are looking for the post the correlates to Part I, it isn't there. We have just begun covering
Brothers & Sisters, so, I am going to attempt to do two things with this review: Summarize my impressions of the season thus far, and talk about the most recent episode. There will likely be a lot of overlap. I am going to do a brief introduction of all of the main characters here, as well, because there are a lot of them, and it will help us all if we have a reference guide, especially new viewers.
Continue reading Brothers & Sisters: Mistakes Were Made (part II)
Posted Sep 19th 2006 7:02PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Cable, Late Night, OpEd, The Daily Show, Comedy Central
During
an appearance on C-SPAN, Robert Novak, certified prick, claimed to have never seen
The Daily Show and that he will go to the grave never having seen it. He then went on to call Jon Stewart a "self-righteous comedian taking on airs of grandeur". Jon, of course, found this absolutely hysterical because didn't Novak
just say that he's never seen
TDS? Silly Novak, uninformed opinions are for bloggers. Jon faced the camera and asked Novak to join him on neutral ground (Food Network, perhaps) and discuss. And I know it's wrong, but I find it highly amusing when Jon attempts a complicated prop joke and fails miserably in the process. C'mon, it's adorable.
Continue reading The Daily Show: September 18, 2006
Posted Aug 3rd 2006 4:12PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Cable, Late Night, OpEd, The Daily Show, Comedy Central
Apparently, New York is still melting away in
the blistering heat. The news shows are having loads of fun demonstrating to the rest of the country just how freaking hot it is. For example, ABC decided to leave a full crew inside a van, parked outside. Surprise, surprise, they started sweating. Top-notch journalism there. CNN even found a gentleman from Africa. "OMG! This guy from Africa says it's hotter here in NY than it is... in Africa! LOLZ."
Continue reading The Daily Show: August 2, 2006
Posted Jul 17th 2006 9:33PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: CBS, News, Talent
From the Good News department comes word that CBS reporter Kimberly Dozier is making a "miraculous recovery". Those are the words used by CBS News president Sean McManus, who is not a doctor. Still, two-and-a-half months after being
critically wounded in Iraq, she's about to be released from Bethesda Naval Hospital. Dozier sustained shrapnel injuries to her head and legs on May 29 when a bomb detonated near the convoy she was traveling with in Baghdad. Her cameraman, Paul Douglas, and soundman James Brolan were killed in the blast. McManus said that Dozier will have full use of her legs and she apparently didn't suffer any brain injuries because he describes her as "sharp as a tack" and says she plans to return to Iraq.
Posted Jul 14th 2006 3:03PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: TV on DVD, Children
I don't envy military parents, especially those with young kids. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to explain to a child why their mother or father has to leave for long stretches at a time. Sesame Workshop has produced a new DVD that will be distributed free of charge to military families next month that is geared towards helping parents talk with their children about the various stages of deployment. The DVD features Elmo and his father as Elmo's father prepares to leave, though it's never revealed where his father is going. The DVD will also feature interviews with military families, and was created mainly for those new to the military who are left behind and aren't always sure what exactly to say to their kids, or how much is too much. Wal-Mat has contributed $1.5 million to the project.
Posted Feb 25th 2006 11:14AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: ABC, News, Talent
Cameraman Doug Vogt is out of the hospital and
headed to the home he shares with his wife in France. Vogt and ABC
World News Tonight anchor Bob Woodruff were
riding with a military convoy outside of Baghdad
last month when the vehicle
they were riding in hit a roadside bomb. Both men were treated by military personnel and flown to Germany and then
America for treatment. Vogt was released from Bethesda Medical Center this week, but Woodruff remains sedated. Doctors
say Woodruff may be able to move to a care facility near his home in New York in the next few weeks.
Posted Feb 1st 2006 8:56AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: ABC, News, Celebrities
World News Tonight anchorman Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt arrived in the United States last night
and are being treated at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. ABC says it considered moving the men to a
private hospital but decided against it since the military doctors have experience treating victims of bombings. The
picture at the right is of soldiers loading Woodruff on transport that would take him to a C-17 military plane in
Germany. You can see from all the medical instruments, his injuries are very serious. Woodruff's family reports that he
was hit in the face and brain with shrapnel when the Iraqi military vehicle he and Vogt were riding in hit a roadside
bomb just outside Baghdad, Iraq over the weekend. Vogt, on the other hand, is reportedly in much better condition. He
was laughing and making jokes while at the hospital in Germany, whereas Woodruff could barely open his eyes.
The TV Squad Podcast: Vik Sahay of Chuck, Oprah talk, brutal timeslots, and more!
TV Squad Ten: Top Ten ESPN shows from worst to first
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
